


i will not ask (and neither should you)

by Anonymous



Category: DragonFable (Video Game)
Genre: I don't know what this is just take it, Let Aegis Be A Little Shit, No beta we die like tomix, Other, Pre-Relationship, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29525388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The fact that you are standing in the middle of a snowstorm in a Tkaanie winter at nearly sunset cannot possibly be your fault.(It's a little bit your fault. You shouldn't technically be in Tkaanie at all, let alone Mortem. But you have to see. Just once, and then you can go.)-or: using time travel, you make it so tomix never touched his headmaster's looms. you plan on going to see him, just once, and then you'll leave him alone for good. tomix has other ideas.(edit: chapter 2, featuring tomix pov and 100% more aegis!)
Relationships: Tomix Danao & Aegis | Valor, Tomix Danao/Hero
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't played dragonfable since 2018 but the adventurefriends quest made me feel things about tomix again, so in a fugue state i cranked out This...mostly unrelated thing. this is just a tiny look at what is in my head a much larger fic, but let's be real: i will never finish a longer fic. this is just tomix trying to get his flirt on (he is ooc due to not having, uh, 13 years of trauma) and the hero being sad.  
> you may have questions, such as: how did the hero go back in time? did they fix anything else?? what is going ON?? and the answers are: i don't know, yes but don't ask me to talk about it, and see: the title. don't think about it too hard. i sure as hell didn't.  
> title is from "like real people do" by hozier, from the hozier fic title generator.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (edited the lines around where tomix says no one is crazy enough to be out in the storm because it didn't make sense!)

You knew this was a stupid idea, but the fact that you are standing in the middle of a snowstorm in a Tkaanie winter at nearly sunset cannot possibly be your fault.

(It's a little bit your fault. You shouldn't technically be in Tkaanie at all, let alone Mortem. But you have to see. Just once, and then you can go.)

You struggle through what you think is the town square. Most people have been smart enough to go home, so all the shop windows are dim, except for one. You stop to read the sign, hoping it's an inn, choke on your own breath because you truly cannot believe your own luck, and contemplate just. Laying down and letting the storm claim you. You've been frozen before, right? You could totally do it again. It would probably be less painful than -

"Hey, you!" a voice calls from the now-open door. "Are you crazy? Get in here before you freeze to death!"

\- than being stuck in a building. With him.

You lock eyes with him, and he gestures frantically at you to hurry up. Powerless, you trudge inside, and he closes the door on Danao’s Weaving Shoppe, where you are now dripping all over the floor and staring at a face you haven't seen in years.

He looks younger. His hair is red, his eyes blue, and there is a youthfulness to his face that you never saw when you knew him. There is a terrible squeezing in your chest, a yearning and a fear: what if this isn't him? What if it  _ is? _

Tomix gives you a once over, then looks at your face - looks up, because he's not wearing the ridiculous platforms he wore for most of the time you knew him, and like this you're half a head taller than him - and says, "We don't usually let people in after closing, but for you I'll make an exception."

"I'd hate to trouble you," you try to say, but he's already shaking his head, setting a teakettle over the wood stove in the corner and going to clink around in a cabinet behind the counter for mugs.

"It has been slow all day," he replied, flashing you a grin (and oh, you never saw that before, did you? he smiled rarely, laughed almost never, but grinning just for the sake of it - your heart beats a little harder in your chest.) "I don't have anything to clean up. No one is crazy enough to be out in this."

You raise an eyebrow at him.

"No one interesting, usually," he amends. And then he winks. It's exactly as dorky as it sounds. You miss him so much it hurts. "I am Tomix Danao. What are you doing out in this weather, stranger?"

"Visiting old friends," you reply without thinking, then curse silently; didn't you promise yourself you wouldn't mention any part of it to him? "He, uh, wasn't aware I was coming, or else he probably would have warned me about the storm."

Tomix regards you with those blue, blue eyes, exactly as piercing as before though they're a different color. "Some friend," he says lightly, "to convince you to come all this way despite it. I'd have headed to the inn as soon as it got dark."

"I haven't seen him in a long time," you say. You aren’t looking at him. You can’t. "Sometimes it's worth it."

Tomix hums. "That's true." You hear him pour out two mugs of steaming water, scoop tea into strainers, offer you one of each. "Well. To friends, old and new."

You finally turn to look at him. He's got a flask held out for you to pour into your mug, and he's grinning at you, eyes twinkling, and -

It's him. You came here to see if it was really him, and that smile is one you will remember forever; you only saw it a handful of times, but you hoarded each one like your dragon with a new shiny. If you stay here any longer you're going to start crying, but. It’s him.

You take the flask silently, splash some of it into your tea (you can tell by the smell this is the same awful swill he introduced you to in Ravenloss all those years ago. You really do love him  _ so much _ ) and raise your mug to his.

"To friends," you murmur, and take a drink so you can blame your tears on the steam, if he asks.

You chat for a while, and you find out that the shop actually belongs to his brother, Piotr, and his wife; Tomix is an adventurer not unlike yourself, although he doesn't travel quite as far as you.

"I've heard of you, I think," he says thoughtfully, and you almost miss the glitter in his eye. Almost. "Is it true you slayed a sea monster with nothing but a chicken bone and a moglin?"

You don't dignify that with an answer. "What made you go into adventuring?" you ask instead. "I heard soulweavers were mostly, well." You gesture at the shop. "Artist types. Not that you can't be an artist and an adventurer," you amend. "But I imagine it's harder."

He smiles again; he's had a little more of his flask than you, or maybe his tolerance is lower, and he's a little softer around the edges, draped over his squishy armchair. "My soulally convinced me." At your questioning look, he laughs a little at himself and sits up. "I forget most people don't know how soulweavers work. When a soulweaver dies, they become an elemental spirit, and sometimes then a soulally - they bond with a living soulweaver, which enables us to weave soulthreads." You know all of this, obviously, but you let him talk; he's got a nostalgic look, softened by the firelight. "My soulally is...old-fashioned. When he was alive, soulweavers didn't just make things - they were some of the first adventurers in these areas. They led expeditions, killed local monsters, that sort of thing. He was waiting for a weaver to do that with - someone he could respect and support." He grins a little at some memory; you almost don't notice through the choked feeling in your throat. "He said he had to have a hero for a soulweaver because he's a spirit of Valor, but I believe he was just bored. Anyway, I was a very...precocious teenager, and promised him that if he helped me, I'd go on all sorts of adventures with him, so. Here I am." He looks up at you, and then frowns at whatever your face is doing. "Are you alright?"

(There is a space aching in your soul, a too-hot place where cool soulthreads used to sit - the only cold you miss. You're so glad they found each other, but - but.)

(You did choose this, didn't you?)

"Fine," you say, and flash a grin. "Swallowed wrong. Your soulally sounds like a character."

Tomix laughs. "That's one way to put it."

-

Eventually you make your excuses; the storm has let up enough that you think you can make your way to the inn, you should probably find a map of the town so you can find your "friend," etc. He looks a little disappointed, but gives you directions to the inn anyway.

"I hope you'll come to the Frostval festival tomorrow," he says as he walks you to the door. "It lasts all week. Your friend should bring you," he adds as if an afterthought. "No one on the continent celebrates like we do in Mortem." He smiles at you, probably aiming for rogueish but landing on hopeful.

You cough; you weren't even supposed to stay this long. You promised yourself you would confirm his identity and leave, not sit and chat with him for hours, and definitely not imply that it's possible to meet your mysterious friend. "We'll see. Uh. My friend isn't much one for crowds." You conveniently leave out the fact that this version of him seems fine with them.

"I can guide you, then," he volunteers. "If you'd like. It would be a crime to be in Mortem for the first time and miss the festival."

"Maybe," you allow. You pause with you hand on the door handle, trying to figure out what to say. See you tomorrow? I've missed you so much it hurts to look at you and not hug you? Is Aegis well? "Until then," you say at last, and leave for the inn.

-

Against your better judgement, you go to the festival.

Despite the storm the previous day, the town is out in full force; no one fears the cold when they're decked head to toe in soulwoven clothing. Soulwoven tapestries form heated tents people gather in for food or drink or games. You see several children start an extremely complicated game of jump rope with soulthreads and their parents' soulallies refereeing, and think wistfully of Aegis, who loved - loves? - children and games despite his protests that he is a  _ responsible _ spirit. (Tomix looks at the children with a faraway smile, and you wonder if he’s thinking the same thing.) Vendors shout at you as you pass, offering you ribbons or coats or rugs in a thousand colors.

Tomix leads you through it all. (You don't mention your friend, and neither does he.) He knows everyone, it seems, and everyone knows him, even if it's just as the scruffy delinquent Danao boy. He introduces you to Izaac, whose eyes are clear green, and to his own family, who are as warm and wonderful as Tomix himself. He has a community of people that he loves and that love him - he always did, what with Izaac and Riadne and everyone on the VS Unity, but it's another thing to watch him embrace Katia and Piotr, or roughhouse with Danyel, or sweep up his nieces and nephews into a bear hug. You remember what he said on the ship, just before the end, and think that though this isn't exactly what he talked about, his life is full of good things. It's exactly what he deserves, and if when saying your goodbyes your smile is a little teary he doesn't comment.

-

You go back to Greenguard. You did manage to avert several disasters, including the Rose, but it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on things, and no matter what there's always some world-ending threat or uppity sneevil for you to deal with. You train your dragon, defeat some monsters, and mostly all is well. If there's something missing in your chest - well, with how much you travel, you're always missing one of your friends, whether that's Ash or Victoria or Artix. Tomix is no different, you tell yourself.

(Aegis is a different sort of ache. Aegis had been woven into your soul. At the festival, Tomix had talked a little more about his soulally; after you left, you let yourself Have Emotions about it for one extra night, and then you got up the next morning and went on with your life, like you always do.)

You come back to the Falconreach inn one early spring night after a quest, too tired to go all the way back home and ready to eat some of Serenity’s bread and then collapse, only to see a mop of red hair at the front desk, chatting with Gaelan.

Fuck.

“It’s so odd to meet a soulweaver all the way over here!” Gaelan is saying. “I will have to commission you, if you are available. Serenity does not believe me when I tell her about soulwoven garments. Are you staying in the area long?”

“We’ll see,” Tomix says.

“Do you have plans?” Gaelan starts to ask, but then catches sight of you and starts waving excitedly; if Tomix replies it’s lost in Gaelan’s exuberant calls of your name.

“Our very own hero! Come here, you must meet Tomix. Tomix, this is - ”

“We’ve met,” you say, sideeyeing the pair of them. You wonder if you  _ really  _ have to sleep, just now. Maybe you can turn tail and go home. Draco could probably fly you, right? Falconreach has seen the both of you do weirder things. “What brings you all the way out here? I thought most soulweavers stayed on Azaveyr.”

“I thought I would see the sights,” Tomix says. “Adventure in new parts. Meet people.” He flashes you another grin. “Do you have recommendations?”

You stand there for a moment. Different as he is from Before, you know that if you told him to back off, he would in a heartbeat; the ball is in your court. You could choose to walk away, or you could choose your friend.

You know you shouldn’t. There are a thousand reasons why; you caring about someone paints a target on their back, for one, and for another it’s probably at least a little weird to befriend someone you already know so much about, but -

You don’t actually  _ know  _ Tomix. You love him, and he loved you, but you both loved many people. The two of you had shared parts of yourselves you didn’t share with anyone else, but sharing trauma is different from knowing someone. You barely even knew he had had family back in Mortem. But you  _ want _ to know Tomix, and you still do; you want to know more about this version of him that smiles so freely, and you want to learn the shape of his soul again. (Maybe, if you can ever get over the ache of missing Aegis, you can ask if he’ll teach you to weave again.)

“Have you had dinner?” you ask at last. “Serenity makes a mean chowder.”

He grins at you, and you feel something slot into place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you ever feel as if you’ve forgotten something important?” he asks Aegis once over a pile of soulthreads.
> 
> “I watch you forget things all the time,” Aegis replies, not looking up from his weaving, and ducks the ball of mundane string Tomix throws at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm as surprised as you are.  
> i'm on mobile and it's 1:30am, so please forgive any mistakes for now! usual disclaimer: I didn't think too hard about this and you shouldn't either.

Ever since he left Edelia - since before that, if he’s honest with himself, which he tries not to be - Tomix has been trying to remember. He’s not sure _what_ he’s trying to remember, but there is an insistent part of his brain saying that he is incomplete.

“Do you ever feel as if you’ve forgotten something important?” he asks Aegis once over a pile of soulthreads.

“I watch you forget things all the time,” Aegis replies, not looking up from his weaving, and ducks the ball of mundane string Tomix throws at him. “Spirits have perfect memories.”

“That is _not_ true,” Tomix says, and his question is lost in the ensuing debate (and then the frantic rescuing of their project once they realize they got so distracted it tangled.) By the time they’ve emerged, he’s forgotten it entirely.

(Aegis doesn't forget. If he were going to respond, he would say: _yes, all the time. Before I met you I think there was a part of my soul unraveled and I cannot remember who made it so; you wove yourself in and it felt familiar but different, like a missed step._ Tomix, for all he likes to pretend he’s a devil-may-care delinquent, is sensitive; if Aegis told him this he would be take it the wrong way.)

Tomix grows, and he keeps his promise to Aegis; after graduation they travel Azaveyr, saving people where they can, fighting monsters where they must, weaving for those who need it. (He knows Aegis likes that part best. It’s a tricky thing, deciding when to charge less or nothing for a commission, but worth it; together they've made it so entire families can last the winter without having to choose between food and warm clothes that fit their growing children. It saves people as surely as monster-slaying, even if it's not as flashy.) He goes home often enough to meet Piotr's kids, see Katia graduate, and make fun of Danyel being made headmaster. It's exactly what he wanted, exactly what he promised his soulally. There's no reason for him to stare out over the horizon, aching for something else.

Aegis catches him at it, sometimes. He's prepared for the inevitable gentle ribbing, but his soulally only stands at his shoulder, watching the waves with a face more unreadable than usual. (The wonderful part of having a soulally is this: you never have to tell them how you're feeling, because they always know. The horrible part is this: they always know what you're feeling, and sometimes they turn it into A Thing.)

"Do you want to travel?" Aegis asks after a time. "It's a big world, after all. Surely there are other places in the world that could do with a nosy soulweaver."

Tomix makes a noncommittal noise. He isn't sure that what he's missing is something that can be found over the sea. Sometimes the ache of something forgotten gets worse when he _isn't_ at home.

(Sometimes in his travels, he hears stories of a land filled with dragons and elves and one plucky hero that seems to be in the middle of it all - the hero of Lore led an attack against Sepulchure before he could do any harm. The hero of Lore saved an entire city of water elves. The hero of Lore saved the world, over and over. He hears these stories, dreams of things he never remembers in the morning (a dark city, a smiling face, spirit looms that don't fit right on his hands, _pain pain pain I don't understand I can't believe he did that Izaac Riadne Maz everyone I'm so sorry_ ) and wakes with tears on his face, phantom pain in his arms, and a worried Aegis hovering over him.)

"Maybe someday," he says at last. "Azaveyr is not sick of us yet."

Then, one Frostval, he sees some idiot standing out in a snowstorm.

-

" - they said that in Greenguard there are...actually I'm not sure what a sneevil is, it might be a child? But it also might be some kind of troll, or maybe they just don't like children, but they were very sweet to Piotr's little monsters. So - "

"Tomix," Aegis says mildly. "The threads."

Tomix looks down at the soulthreads stretched between them that are meant to be a commissioned cloak and winces, but he's in too good of a mood to be daunted by the prospect of untangling them like he usually would be. "Sorry. I'm just - I wish you could have met them before they left."

"They certainly sound like a character," Aegis says, watching Tomix curiously. "What's gotten into you? I've never seen you this way over a crush."

"I am _not_ \- "

"We share emotions."

" - I am not...any _way_. It's exciting to meet a hero like them, that's all." He concentrates very hard on picking apart the threads, and does not say: talking to them felt like a loose thread tucked back into place. It felt like remembering a beloved song, or like the first time I wove and looked at the completed project with pride.

"Hmm," Aegis says, and for a few minutes Tomix thinks he's going to let it lie. Then, because Aegis is secretly a bastard, he asks: "Were they cute?"

"Shut up," Tomix does not whine. Aegis only waits, silent. "...they are. Strong."

" _Ah_ ," Aegis says knowingly.

"Shut _up._ "

-

The next time he hears a tale of the hero of Lore, he buys passage on a ship to Greenguard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if aegis is ooc, it's because I think he was 200% more of a little shit before the hero went into the ice. i have no proof but his resting bitch face. i would lay down my life for him.  
> -  
> edit:   
> me, making things up as i go because surely not THAT much has changed in the time ive been gone: in aegis's day soulweavers were heroes :)  
> me two days after i posted this, finding out that soulweavers are considered evil if they fight with their weaving: ah.


End file.
